1. Field of the Invention
This invention gradually relates to mailboxes, and more specifically to a rural mailbox which can be extended and automatically retracted to facilitate vehicular delivery of mail when snow has accumulated in the weak end of the mailbox.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of designs for rural mailboxes have been proposed which tend to simplify the problems of rural mail delivery thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,781,964, a mailbox structure is described, the primary object of which is to make it possible for the carrier to drive in a safe and proper position and yet be able to open the mailbox and deposit the mail therein, or remove it therefrom in a ready, easy and simple manner. To achieve this, the mailbox includes a series of cylindrical telescoping sleeves which can be extended into or adjacent to the road or retracted. An extensible mailbox is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,640 which includes a telescoping member engaging the body of the box and which can be manipulated from the front of the box so as to extend the length of the box, thereby permitting it to receive objects or packages unusually long.
Other mailboxes have been devised, exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 703,143 and 1,494,181 which are provided with an extensible mounting for the mailbox, such as lazy-tongs, which permit the entire mailbox to be extended to make it accessible to the rural mail carrier without the necessity of his leaving his vehicle or driving the same off the roadway for the purpose. Other mailboxes which have been proposed and which include a feature of being removable in relation to the post upon which they are mounted are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,139,491; 2,804,263 and 4,114,801. These mailboxes, however, are generally complex in construction, and are each intended to facilitate the delivery of mail.
A mailbox is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 838,194 which includes an automatically sliding receptacle which brings the mail deposited in the box far enough out of the door to permit its being taken readily from the box, the mail tray being returned back into the mailbox when the door is closed. A similar slideable tray insert is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,143 where a tray insert molded from a plastic material is provided with a flexible finger element which moves the tray insert partially out of the mailbox to expose the handle of the tray when the mailbox is opened.
In all of the aforementioned and known mailboxes, the mailboxes remain in their extended positions after the mail has been deposited therein unless the mail carrier returns the mailbox to its normal retracted position.
The U.S. postal services has promulgated regulations regarding rural mailboxes. See "Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)". Regulation .54 requires that rural mailboxes must be placed so that they may be safely and conveniently served by carriers without leaving their conveyances, and also require that customers remove obstructions, including vehicles, trash cans, and snow that make delivery difficult. Regulation .232 outlines that delivery may be provided to boxes located at the curb so that they can be safely and conveniently served by the carrier from his vehicle. A problem that frequently arises in rural areas is that delivery becomes difficult, if not impossible, after a heavy snow. This condition is aggravated after the roadway has been plowed and snow has been piled up between the roadway and the post on which the mailbox is mounted. Frequently, in such situations, the mail carrier cannot bring his vehicle sufficiently close to the mailbox and, in some cases, the mail is not delivered under those circumstances. This is a serious problem, particularly for older and infirm people that cannot physically remove the snow which prevents the mail carrier from delivering the mail.